Powdered Reminiscence
by Ceasefire
Summary: [AlWinry, end of series spoilers] Memories of her childhood with Ed and Al were something to be savored. This was something she had come to appreciate all too soon.


My first fanfic for these two... please be kind? Please note the Episode 51 spoilers and the fact that I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

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Memories of her childhood with Ed and Al were something to be savored. This was something she had come to appreciate all too soon.

She had been their sister in all senses of the word except by name, and by the will of that one minor technicality she had somehow always felt she was reaching for them but never making contact. It was the simple repetition of the words _don't worry_ and so many other variations that used different words but held the same underlying meaning that made her unwilling to watch Al once again turn his back and walk away, this time very much alone, a bittersweet temperance to regaining his body but losing his memories, his own flesh and blood, his_ brother_.

Winry still remembered sitting in the sun-drenched study that had once belonged to Ed and Al's father on summer afternoons, lying on her back and watching the dust motes drift lazily through the air as Ed silently retrieved another book from one of the many piles on the desk, while the scrape of the chalk against the wooden floorboards grated her nerves as Al attempted and practiced and perfected another array.

Still remembered the gentle tug of Granny's hand on hers as she was led away from Ed and Al, who were still sitting in the small graveyard at the foot of the newly covered grave, hands that she knew would be slightly dirtied by the soft excess of the earth.

Still remembered the chill of the metal under her hand, contrast to the warm blood left by Ed as Al begged (unavoidable, emotional, caring) for them to save his older brother.

The Rockbell home had always smelt metallic due to the trade her grandmother (and her mother and father, in their time) had practiced; she had grown up with the smell and had found a strange sense of comfort and homecoming every time she walked into the workshop.

That night, as she changed Ed's bloodstained bandages and heard the soft sound of Al shifting behind her, she had felt overwhelmed by it.

And the most recent memory of either of them that she held dear was Alphonse walking towards their home, his body restored, void of his brother.

Now he was living upstairs in the spare bedroom they usually reserved for patients.

From across the room, Granny requested that she take Al's breakfast up to him, and she accepted, grabbing the small plate of eggs and walking up the stairs to Al's door.

She knocked on the door to the spare room where Al had slept for the past few nights, and heard a muffled invitation inside come from the other side of the door.

"Al, I've got your breakfast," Winry murmured, watching the small blond boy sitting by the single small window the roof had draw a slow circle in the condensation on the glass.

"Thank you," he responded, grinning gently before returning to looking out the window, flinching when his skin once again made contact with the cool glass.

"Your Teacher is coming to visit you today, isn't she?"

Al nodded in affirmation and walked over to join Winry, who had seated herself on the bed.

"I've been thinking about going back to train with her in Dublith again."

She smiled, albeit sadly.

"I should have known you would... "

"Winry, will you be lonely?"

"Huh?" Winry perked one fine eyebrow in question, "Why do you ask?"

"I..." Al sighed, and fiddled with the fork that Winry had brought up with his plate of scrambled eggs, "Since Brother isn't here anymore, I always feel lonely. Do you ever feel the same?"

"Sometimes, but if you want to go and train again, I want you to be happy and do it," Winry grinned and gave Al a brief pat on the shoulder, "I've been thinking of going to Rush Valley to refine my Automail."

"Rush Valley?" Al questioned.

"Oh... they call it the home of Automail," Winry watched Al carefully place a piece of scrambled egg between his lips, chew slowly and swallow.

"We should both go," Al said when he'd finished swallowing, "We should both do our best."

"I think so too," Winry smiled and gave the boy a quick hug, "So long as you're sure you'll be fine."

Al grinned and hugged back, arms coming to rest lightly around Winry's shoulders.

"We'll both be fine. I'm sure."

**END**


End file.
